Sorry for the delayed responses recently as fatigue has taken a toll on our bodies. Between playing matches, samba clubs and watching matches on top of eating the Brazilian food, everyone is a bit tired.

Anyway, continuing where we last left off, the match at the Maracana was one of those memories that will never be forgotten. Personally, it always has been one of those places that I had to see because as someone who plays football, it is the equivalent of Mecca. Some background on the Maracana: Home of the 1950 World Cup final where over 200,000 people filled the stadium to see Brazil lose the match to Uruguay, now seats 99,500 but will soon seat over 120,000 as it is the home of the 2014 World Cup Final, it is the National Stadium of the Brazilian National Team and also to one of the oldest clubs in the world, Flamengo. The game we got to see was Flamengo against Atletico Paranese. Although Flamengo is not having one of the best seasons ever and many supporters are against the club's partnership with Nike, thus only 1/4 of the stadium was filled, the energy that filled the stadium was second to none as some of our teammates, Pete, ECH, Justin and Zach Lip joined the supporters for nearly the entirety of the match.

The game was fantastic and from a soccer perspective rather eye opening as we finally saw the Brazilian game the way the game was meant to be played, in other words, entirely different than what we are used to. For instance, instead of using the space and playing an entire team game, the Brazilian game is meant to open up play so that 1 vs 1 situations occur on the flanks. On top of that, very little shooting occurs as the goal seems to be to string beautiful passes together as a way to find a way to get the ball as close as possible before either tapping it or walking it into the goal.

Anyway, the game ended 1-0 to Flamengo (Thank God) on a goal from a corner that was headed into the center of the net after the keeper came out to catch the ball but the Flamengo center back got up to win the ball over both keeper and defender. The experience itself was fantastic as every bad pass or touch was roared at by a crowd that expects nothing but perfection from their team. Flares lit up the night and also provided a smokey view of the field as chaos ensued as soon as Flamengo scored their goal late in the second half. We left the Maracana pleased, as any supporter of the game would be seeing a match there, and some of us, completely enthralled with one of our new favorite teams, Flamengo.

One thing we were unaware of was what was in store for us immediately following the match. After a quick bite to eat at the hotel, Cesar took us to an extremely famous Samba school that puts on a tremendous performance every Saturday night. The school, called Salgueiro, had the feel to a block party upon entrance as little stands and samba lined the way to its doors with smells of chicken, pork, steak, fish, and laughter in large groups as all in the area prepared for, what we did not know, would be a long, long night.

Arriving at 11 we sat and awaited the performance to begin. Slowly at first, but extremely rapid afterwards, the school became a sea of humanity as drums and bells began to reverberate off the walls and the movement of bodies began. Truthfully, we stuck out like sore thumbs as we again proved how white we really are as almost no one, outside of a few guys, proved that they have any sort of rhythm. But, as is the Brazilian way, that did not matter as they seemed to accept us as one of the locals. Young kids treated us as older friends and the people again, as was the case in the club, attempted to show us how to move our bodies like the Brazilians. Although tired as 3 AM somehow crept up on us, many wished to stay but we knew we had to get going so that we could sleep in and get our bodies some rest.

I will have to get back to writing about today tomorrow because it is nearly 11 PM and almost time for lights out.

-Zach